Bouncing Back to the Bayou --- an August 2013 PTR

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 13, 2012

Bouncing Back to the Bayou --- an August 2013 PTR

Ok I am just DYING to tell someone, ANYONE, about my plans. I've finished up my TR from 2012 (and within the one month time frame I give myself from returning home) and it's time to start planning again!!! The family thinks we are going to CBR next year. Nah, nah!! I changed it to POR, the Alligator Bayou section and preferred so hopefully building 14 -- that's what I've requested. NONE OF MY FAMILY KNOWS ABOUT THIS AND I'M NOT TELLING THEM UNTIL THE MAGICAL EXPRESS DROPS US OFF!!! My familly and I were all were talking and that seems to be everyone's favorite. I also found out the whole resort has been renovated in 2011 and I looked up the pics. I am paying for preferred as I just don't want the walk we had last time around to the food court. It was WAY TOO FAR to keep refilling the mugs. By the time we walked back to the room from refilling them, they'd be empty again as we were drinking along the way. I am also planning on flying out of Portland, ME this time around, too. Driving to Manchester really wasn't all that fun, especially landing at 9:30pm and still having a 3 hour drive home. UGH. Also, Peter's SW Rapid Rewards can be transferred to Air Tran A+ rewards And Air Tran flies out of Portland. Would you believe we already have enough points for one round trip ticket or two one-way flights?? Peter keeps using that good old Southwest Visa for EVERYTHING! Of course he pays it up every month like a good little boy! I'm hoping he uses it enough for us to earn another flight. I think it's very doable! Yep! And I've already made up a Garden Grocer order!!! That is going to be so convenient for snacks/breakfast type items. I've subbed to the POR Riverside thread and the August 2013 thread, so that's all set. The POR thread suggests to fax my room requests to POR 5 days in advance, so that date is already marked (and the fax already written and saved in my computer) in my calendar as well as the date I can make my ADR's. The one I really want is Be Our Guest at MK. I'm surprised it's only 1 TS credit for dinner and it's considered CS for lunch. So Cool! With the next paycheck I'm planning on purchasing the PhotoPass Plus on the preorder special. It's a $30 savings and the plus is so worth it for all to get all those dinner and ride photos!

Yep.....how's that for planning????

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 13, 2012

Tink-erin-belle · Sep 13, 2012

First!!!

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 13, 2012

Tink-erin-belle said:
First!!!

YAY!!!!!

Tink-erin-belle · Sep 13, 2012

OK, now that I have gotten the first bragging rights out of the way, I can concentrate on your PTR! I was afraid Karen was going to beat me over here! :laughing:

So, I am subbed and I cant wait to read more! That is cool that you are able to transfer the rewards points over to AirTran. BWI is 90 minutes away from us, so I cant imagine doubling that! Im glad you can fly out of a closer airport. You are really on top of things with the Garden Grocer order and the room request!

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 13, 2012

Me and my Disney Family

My DD 14 Victoria......
She will be 15 by the time we go on this trip. She and I have been the 2 peas in a pod since I divorced her father when she was 4. It's been she and I against the world since then. She's not as much as a Disney fanatic as I am but I'll get her there!!! hee, hee. She's had her share of trials so far in her 14 years so I tend to spoil her and try to "make up for it". She was born with infant torticollis which basically means her head and neck muscles didn't develop as they should have while I was pregnant. She wore a head cast for 6 months to shape her head properly and had physical therapy for the first 2 years of her life. When she was 5, we discovered she had a tethered spinal cord which required surgery to fix. Her tethered spinal cord made potty training extremely difficult (as she didn't feel when she had to go) and it has caused recurring UTI's which have continued to this day. She does see a Pediatric Nephrologist in Portland, Maine so we are working on it. After her surgery she had an additional 2 years of physical therapy. She's doing great, though, even though she will never be great at team sports or any activity that requires lots of balance. It was also around the time she was 5 when my dad, her beloved Pepere passed away of a massive heart attack. That prompted me to realize that life is too short to be miserable, so I divorced Victoria's father that same year. She is currently facing a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. We go to see an endocrinologist in Portland in October for more testing.

Then there's me......a 45 year old cancer survivor, diabetic, and mother. I work full time, enjoy scrapbooking, tending to my menagerie of pets and stalking the Disboards. I am the Disney Pusher/addict of the family. I have converted Peter, but I think it's because of all the amazing restaurants we go to while there.

Finally, there is my husband Peter.......
As a little background here--- I had a pretty bad first marriage and I definitely was NEVER, EVER going to get married again or ever let anyone have control over me and my life again. I had dated, but nothing too serious as my first priority was and is Victoria. I was certainly not going to bring someone into our lives who I had no intention of remaining with. Then I met Peter.......yes, online.......Now I know what you all must be thinking ----ewwww! And I really didn't think anything would come out of it either. But, here I am. He's from the same type of French Catholic background as I am and we have so many things in common. He actually does the same type of work that my Dad did. (My Dad passed away in 2002). He's really an amazing man and he's taken to Victoria like she was his own child. Victoria loves him, too.

Other family members not going on the trip are our yellow lab, 2 cats (we just lost our beloved Rusty kitty at the age of 14 a week before we left for our trip of 2012), 5 mini-lop bunnies, 2 teddy bear hamsters, 2 guinea pigs and now 6 chickens!!! I am a huge animal lover, if you couldn't tell. Usually when we go to Disney the dog goes to the kennel and my wonderful Mom comes over to tend to everyone else. Here are my critters, although the chickens were NOT being cooperative except for Roo and LB....

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 13, 2012

Just thought I'd let you all know about a great article on FastPass Plus by Mousemisers. You can find it on their site here:
http://www.mousemisers.com/2012/disney-fastpass-plus/

I also wanted to share 2 projects that are finished for next year's trip.....

First of all I didn't like the bag I had for the parks. I either used my camera bag (too small) or the yellow tote bag thing (too big). Well, I said enough is enough of this and marched my butt over to Wal-Mart for some material. I was looking for a more traditional Mickey type of pattern, but this will work. I used interfacing to make it durable and I lined it for that extra strength. I made the strap long enough to cross over my body to help my back with the weight distribution. I am very pleased with how it came out:

I think it will be perfect.

I also made Peter the following t-shirt from the sticker he received for being "THAT GUY" at Monsters Laugh Floor. I'm not the best at iron-ons, but I think it's ok. I am going to put "THAT GUY" on the back of it, so I still have that to do....

Can you believe I'm already at it with my projects? Crazy!!

Nurse_Mommy4 · Sep 13, 2012

I just had to stop and tell you that I LOVE your title! :cool1:

Okay now I can go back and actually read the PTR. :rotfl:

Nurse_Mommy4 · Sep 13, 2012

OMG, Ann! You are WAY more organized than I am!

I will admit though that I have made several hypothetical park day plans, as this trip will be different than any I have ever taken before. I usually travel with my four children and we stay at POR. I have booked BB at POR but I am seriously thinking about trying WL, since it will only be myself and my youngest daughter (unless my BFF and her daughter join us).

We have two trips planned for 2014 and I am pretty sure they will be at POR (with extended family).

Anywho, after reading all your planning I feel behind (and we just got home two weeks ago)! :rotfl2:

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 13, 2012

Tink-erin-belle said:
OK, now that I have gotten the “first” bragging rights out of the way, I can concentrate on your PTR! I was afraid Karen was going to beat me over here! So, I am subbed and I can’t wait to read more! That is cool that you are able to transfer the rewards points over to AirTran. BWI is 90 minutes away from us, so I can’t imagine doubling that! I’m glad you can fly out of a closer airport. You are really on top of things with the Garden Grocer order and the room request!

Yeah, I was pretty excited to find out we could do that with the SWpoints! I still think SW is cheaper (it is) but it's worth it for us not to have to drive. Peter doesn't know I'm doing this for him. He's the one that gets stuck driving, so I thought this would be a nice surprise.

As for GG, I had looked at Wal-mart.com, but they didn't have 2 liter bottles of Diet Coke online, so I went with GG. I think we'll be very happy with this.

As for the room request, I just know what I want. I know how some people say the walk from the mansions isn't bad....um, yeah, we stayed previously in Magnolia Terrace and yeah my family thought it was quite the walk. So, looking at the map, I think we can handle the walk from AB #14.

Nurse_Mommy4 said:
I just had to stop and tell you that I LOVE your title!

Okay now I can go back and actually read the PTR.

Thank you. I've been thinking about it since I made the choice to go back to POR. I wanted to have something cute and relavant, so that's what I came up with.

Nurse_Mommy4 said:
OMG, Ann! You are WAY more organized than I am!

I will admit though that I have made several hypothetical park day plans, as this trip will be different than any I have ever taken before. I usually travel with my four children and we stay at POR. I have booked BB at POR but I am seriously thinking about trying WL, since it will only be myself and my youngest daughter (unless my BFF and her daughter join us).

We have two trips planned for 2014 and I am pretty sure they will be at POR (with extended family).

Anywho, after reading all your planning I feel behind (and we just got home two weeks ago)!

oh please, Tasha.....I'm just trying to go with things that I know I want different about the next trip while the not-so-wonderful trip is still fresh in my mind. I'm really not that organized. I think of it more as obsessed. I don't want to be rushed that last month trying to figure out what I still need. I'm also working more on the famous Disney bag rain poncho. I'm adjusting it so that it opens in the front and will close with velcro. I'm also making it about 12 inches longer. I just hope this time around no rude lady will say I'm not classy. It seems our daughters (your youngest) are the same age. I really hope I get to meet up with you this time around. I saw your pics with Stan. It would be so awesome to meet someone from the boards!!!

Nurse_Mommy4 · Sep 14, 2012

Forget that stupid poncholady! She needsto learn to keep her mouth shut. :furious:

I really can't stand when people feel the need to say hurtful things to/about other people. I for one LOVED your poncho and thought it was VERY creative.

*stepping down from soapbox*

I can't wait to see the new version of the poncho. I think velcro and a little length will be nice. I am always wishing my ponchos were longer. :thumbsup2

I noticed our daughters are the same age also! I hope we end up meeting next year too. I believe we ended up at the same parks on some days this year, we just never ran into each other.

Twoboysnmygirl · Sep 14, 2012

Darn you Erin! You are always beating me lately! I have an excuse though, I was painting my whole kitchen, including cabinets and counters, so I haven't been on.

WOOT for 2013 PTR!!!!!! I'm here! :thumbsup2

JDailey · Sep 16, 2012

YAY for the new P.T.R.!!!! :cool1:

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 20, 2012

In 10 MONTHS AND 28 DAYS I will be in Disney again.....not that I'm counting or anything. :lmao:

I feel the need to get things ready early for this trip. I just don't want to be worrying about anything during next summer. I want to enjoy the summer and camping (OMG --- if any of you REALLY know me, you will know I HATE camping and I do it just because my wonderful hubby loves it. Give me a hotel room any day of the week, baby! :thumbsup2

)

I should be planning on my trip to NYC for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. My Mom is taking my family down as she's always wanted to see the parade in person. Me? I'm not a huge parade person, but hey, it's all expenses paid, as Mom is paying, so why not? We have a hotel room right along the parade route so we can watch it from the window or actually go outside. I think it will depend on the weather as to what we do. We will be flying in on Wednesday and leaving on Saturday, so it will be a nice little trip. Wonder what Black Friday in NYC is like!

As for Disney planning, I do have my days TENTIVELY scheduled, but not restaurants at all. There's not really too many more that we haven't tried that we would want to. There's our favorite that are can't miss, but I still have tonz of time to figure it all out. Ok, you guys are going to think I'm way out there, but I've already done up my Mousekeeping envelopes. I found a really nice template on the Creative Dis thread and saved it in Paint. I was able to then design anything I wanted on them. I think they came out pretty good:

I'm going to be using the same template for the restaurant ones. I'm going to try to start filling them as soon as I can so I don't have to worry about coming up with $200 worth of tips closer to the trip.

We've been running into some awesome deals lately! I think I've told you all that I was planning on buying a new suitcase for Peter for Christmas as his was torn. Well we were at Marden's (which is a surplus/salvage type store) and I found a nice, big suitcase for $8.99!!! Yep, $8.99. It was ripped a bit at the seam and pocket, but nothing a little thread couldn't fix. So, I bought it. It was "Marden" priced at $49.97 for ones just like it, so regular retail was probably $89.99 or right around there. I was so tickled. Obviously Peter did see it so it's no longer a Christmas gift, but I was pleased none the less. Here are my before and after shots:

It's not perfect by any means, but it's durable and will last and for $8.99??? You can't even get a backpack for that price! Aren't you guys proud of me?

Then on the same day we stopped at a yard sale and Victoria went over to this exercise machine and started working on it. I have no idea what it even is or what part of the body it is supposed to work, but it was marked $2. My wonderful hubby certainly was NOT going to pay retail price, so he talked the guy down to $1 and it currently sits in my kitchen. You should have seen us driving it home.....so funny!!! It was hanging out of my trunk secured with a cargo net. :lmao:

So, if anyone knows what this is or what it does, please let me know! After all we can't let something we paid $1 for go to waste, right?? That's hard earned money right there! :rotfl2:

I just wanted to share some of my other goodies with you. I added to my pin collection and you can see some of the additions...

And here are my Potato Heads dressed in some of their new pieces. That's the box you can stuff for $20...

Twoboysnmygirl · Sep 20, 2012

Oh Wow Ann! I'm excited to hear about your NYC trip! I bet that will be so much fun to be on the parade route, especially if it's freezing and you can watch from your window...makes me think of Ferris Bueller's Day Off!

I think it's FABULOUS that you are starting to prepare already, I think it makes it less stressful for all those last minute details...and more fun throughout the year as well! :thumbsup2

SCORE on the suitcase! That's a great deal and you fixed it right up! I have no idea what kind of machine that is, but it looks like lots of fun and good exercise! :goodvibes

Tink-erin-belle · Sep 20, 2012

I thought I commented on your PTR already about the FastPass + but apparently I didnt! I read the article when you first posted it and I had mixed emotions about it. On the one hand, I think it takes enough planning to do ADRs, so to have to plan something else on top of that seems like a bit much! Then again, it might be cool to have an ADR for Crystal Palace knowing that you have a scheduled FastPass right after that for Peter Pan. I like the Minnie bag that you made! You are so talented! Peters suitcase looks like new after you repaired it! Your That Guy shirt is cool too! You are really well on your way with your projects for this trip. I cant believe you have your tip envelopes done, but that is a good idea to have them ready now so that you can stuff them with cash all year long.

Angies1274 · Sep 24, 2012

Hi Ann!

Yay for bouncing back!! :yay:

Love the name of your PTR!! :thumbsup2

I've spent the last couple months comparing moderate resorts and I think we are leaning towards trying POR next trip! :yay:

It looks so beautiful! Which is why I'm so excited to read your PTR! Sounds like your plans are coming along nicely.

:woohoo:

for NYC! It sounds like a fun trip.

Victoriasmom98 · Sep 26, 2012

Ok. I have a question for you parents out there..Would you let your 15 year old and her 15 year old friend take a taxi from POP to the Caribe Royal for an event? The distance is about 6 miles. We would use Mears Taxi service as Ive dealt with them before. What do you think?

Twoboysnmygirl · Sep 26, 2012

Victoriasmom98 said:
Ok. I have a question for you parents out there..Would you let your 15 year old and her 15 year old friend take a taxi from POP to the Caribe Royal for an event? The distance is about 6 miles. We would use Mears Taxi service as Ive dealt with them before. What do you think?

I would! I think there's safety in numbers, so if it's Victoria and a friend, I think that's totally fine and will be fun! Now...WHAT is this you are posting on FB about March?!?!?!? :hyper:

Tink-erin-belle · Sep 27, 2012

I think I would be OK with it as long as the 15 year old had a phone and understood that they were to go straight there and straight back. Im with Karen: Id like to hear about March, too! :yay:

Bouncing Back to the Bayou --- an August 2013 PTR

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